-
Recent Posts
Archives
Links
general
mission instruments
- CRISM: Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars
- CTX: Context Camera
- HiRISE: High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment
- MARSIS: Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding
- SHARAD: Shallow Radar
- THEMIS: Thermal Emission Imaging System
missions
- All Mars missions list
- Curiosity rover
- ExoMars
- Hope (al-Amal) orbiter
- InSight
- Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN)
- Mars Exploration Rovers (MER)
- Mars Express (MEX)
- Mars Odyssey
- Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) / Mangalyaan
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
- Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
- Perseverance Rover
- Tianwen-1 orbiter/rover
news
Tag Archives: Chemistry and Camera
Vera Rubin Ridge brings out rover’s color talents
[Editor’s note: See also here.] Color-discerning capabilities that NASA’s Curiosity rover has been using on Mars since 2012 are proving particularly helpful on a mountainside ridge the rover is now climbing. These capabilities go beyond the thousands of full-color images … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Aeolis Mons, ChemCam, Chemistry and Camera, Curiosity, Gale Crater, Mars Science Laboratory, Mast Camera, MastCam, Mount Sharp, MSL, Murray Formation, NASA, Vera Rubin Ridge
Comments Off
Curiosity update: Heading for half a million laser shots
Sol 1821, September 19, 2017, update by MSL scientist Roger Wiens: Communication ties our lives together. If phone or internet service goes out in our area, sometimes we have to put our lives on hold for a few minutes or … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Aeolis Mons, ChemCam, Chemistry and Camera, Curiosity, Gale Crater, Mars Science Laboratory, Mount Sharp, MSL, Murray Formation, NASA, Vera Rubin Ridge
Comments Off
Laser-targeting AI yields more science
Artificial intelligence is changing how we study Mars. A.I. software on NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has helped it zap dozens of laser targets on the Red Planet this past year, becoming a frequent science tool when the ground team was … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged AEGIS, Aeolis Mons, Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science, ChemCam, Chemistry and Camera, Curiosity, Gale Crater, Mars Science Laboratory, Mount Sharp, MSL, NASA
Comments Off
Curiosity is picking its own laser targets
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity is now selecting rock targets for its laser spectrometer — the first time autonomous target selection is available for an instrument of this kind on any robotic planetary mission. Using software developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged AEGIS, Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science, ChemCam, Chemistry and Camera, Curiosity, Gale Crater, Mars Science Laboratory, MSL, NASA
Comments Off
Curiosity: Locating RMI’s ‘distant deposits’
Sol 1264, February 25, 2016. The red boxes on two Navcam images outline the locations of two recent RMI mosaics seen here. Taken at long range by the rover’s Remote Micro-Imager, the mosaics show deposits far away to the north … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Aeolis Mons, alluvial fans, ChemCam, Chemistry and Camera, Curiosity, Gale Crater, Mars Science Laboratory, Mount Sharp, MSL, Murray Formation, NASA, Naukluft Plateau, Peace Vallis, Remote Micro-Imager, RMI
Comments Off
Curiosity: Looking at distant deposits
Sol 1263, February 24, 2016. The ChemCam’s Remote Micro-Imager shot two long-range, multi-frame views showing features of the terrain at the foot of Gale Crater’s rim. One series of images centers almost due north (above, toward 355°), the other northwest … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Aeolis Mons, alluvial fans, ChemCam, Chemistry and Camera, Curiosity, Gale Crater, Mars Science Laboratory, Mount Sharp, MSL, NASA, Peace Vallis, Remote Micro-Imager, RMI
Comments Off
Curiosity: Northwest passage
Sol 1256, February 17, 2016. Curiosity rolled northwest about 25 meters, driving on the rough surface of the Murray Formation. High Dune lies off to the left. Shortly before the drive, ChemCam’s Remote Micro-Imager looked back at Mt. Sharp, taking … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Aeolis Mons, Bagnold Dunes, ChemCam, Chemistry and Camera, Curiosity, Gale Crater, High Dune, Mars Science Laboratory, Mount Sharp, MSL, Murray Formation, NASA, Remote Micro-Imager, RMI
Comments Off
Curiosity: RMI does a ‘Take 2′ on distant crater
Sol 1244, February 5, 2016. The ChemCam’s Remote Micro-Imager has reshot (above) the interior of a distant impact crater lying at the foot of Gale Crater’s interior wall, west- southwest of Curiosity’s current location. The arrow in the image at … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Aeolis Mons, Bagnold Dunes, ChemCam, Chemistry and Camera, Curiosity, Gale Crater, High Dune, Mars Science Laboratory, Mount Sharp, MSL, Murray Formation, NASA, Remote Micro-Imager, RMI, Stimson Formation
Comments Off
Curiosity: Not for today, but someday
Sol 1240, February 1, 2016. Curiosity’s Remote Micro-Imager (RMI), part of the ChemCam system, did some long-range shooting earlier today. Five frames, aimed almost directly south, catch layers upon layers in Mt. Sharp and, at right, perhaps the entrance to … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Aeolis Mons, ChemCam, Chemistry and Camera, Curiosity, Gale Crater, Mars Science Laboratory, Mount Sharp, MSL, NASA, Remote Micro-Imager, RMI
Comments Off
Curiosity: Primitive continental crust found?
The ChemCam laser instrument on NASA’s Curiosity rover has turned its beam onto some unusually light-colored rocks on Mars, and the results are surprisingly similar to Earth’s granitic continental crust rocks. This is the first discovery of a potential “continental … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Aeolis Mons, ChemCam, Chemistry and Camera, Curiosity, Gale Crater, Mars Science Laboratory, Mount Sharp, MSL, NASA, Remote Micro-Imager, RMI
Comments Off